The WQA is under the direction and leadership of a seven-member board of directors. The board is comprised of one individual from each of the overlying municipal water districts. One member is from a city with prescriptive water pumping rights, one is from a city without prescriptive water pumping rights, and two members represent water producers in the San Gabriel Basin.
The WQA Board meets at noon on the third Wednesday of the month.The Legislative/Public Information/Education Committee meets at
9 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the month.
Meeting times and dates are subject to change with notice.
Chairman
Representing San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
(Term Ends January 1, 2025)
Personal: Mark was born, raised and lives in Alhambra. He graduated from Fremont Elementary School, Alhambra High School and Rio Hondo Junior College. He’s been married to Susan for 39 years, and she is a teacher at Granada Elementary School. They have two sons, Christopher and Timothy.
Professional: Mark is a senior Sales Associate with Anthony Venti Realtors.
Community Involvement
Political Career
Awards & Recognition
Vice-Chairwoman
Representing water producers
California Domestic Water Company
(Term Ends January 1, 2025)
Lynda Noriega was appointed President of California Domestic Water Company, a wholesale mutual water company based in Whittier, California, on January 1, 2018. She started her career in the water industry with Valley County Water District, a retail-based special district in Baldwin Park, California on September 11, 2001 serving in the capacities of Operations Assistant, Water Quality Specialist, Finance & Administrative Manager and Interim General Manager prior to her appointment as General Manager in February 2011. Lynda served as General Manager of Valley County Water District until her hire as the Vice President/General Manager with California Domestic Water Company on March 14, 2016. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting Theory from California State University, Fullerton in 2007. She serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, as a member of the Board of Directors for the San Gabriel Valley Water Association, and as a member of the Board of Directors for Mujeres de la Tierra. In March 2018, Lynda was selected as a Woman of Achievement for the 22 nd Senate District of California by Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez in recognition of her work and contributions to environmental protection and environmental justice.
City of La Puente
Cities Without Water Pumping Rights
Secretary
Representing cities without water pumping rights
(Term Ends January 1, 2024)
A resident in La Puente since 2001. The Hernandez family has owned and operated a private practice in the city in excess of 20 years. Council Member Muñoz is married to her high school sweetheart and they have three children.
Council Member Muñoz is an advocate for providing affordable and accessible health care services to the residents in her community and has helped to provide eye screenings to thousands of local school kids.
Education:
Employment:
Regional Boards, Committees, and Professional Organizations:
City of Azusa
Cities With Pumping Rights
Treasurer
Representing Cities With Pumping Rights
(Term Ends January 2026)
Mayor Robert Gonzales is a lifelong resident of Azusa of 51 years. He is a product of the Azusa Unified School District. He has served as a Councilmen since 2007 and elected as Mayor in March of 2020. Azusa has its own Light & Water Agency which he has served as Board Member Serving the city of Azusa for the past 15 years. He also serves as a representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, The Council of Governments Homeless Sub-Committee, Trustee to the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito & Vector Control District, and the Los Angeles County Sanitation District.
Board Member
Representing the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
(Term Ends January 1, 2025)
Ed Chavez has a long history of public service and leadership in the Greater San Gabriel Valley. He was born and raised in the City of La Puente, the youngest of seven children. His father was a steelworker at Bethlehem Steel in the City of Vernon and his mother was a technician with McDonnell Douglas Aircrafts in the City of Long Beach and Monrovia. Both parents were born in the State of New Mexico; The Land of Enchantment.
Ed Chavez graduated from Bassett High School and later received an Associate of Arts degree from Rio Hondo College. While working his way through school, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California – Los Angeles. He continued his education by working on a Single Subject Teaching Credential from Claremont Graduate University and earnings a Designated Subjects Adult Teaching Credential from California State University – Los Angeles. He also has worked hard to earn his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Phoenix. Mr. Chavez has spent most of his career as an educator in the San Gabriel Valley having taught at Claremont High School, Pioneer High School, Bassett Adult School, and several schools in the Hacienda-La Puente and Bassett Unified School District. He also taught for Mount San Antonio College and is currently teaching incarcerated adult students in the Los Angeles County Jails.
At the age of 23, Ed Chavez became the youngest elected member of the Bassett Unified School District’s Board of Education. A year later, his colleagues appointed him President of the Board. During his term in office, he is credited for raising the academic standards throughout the district while lowering the high school dropout rate.
At the age of 26, Ed Chavez was elected to the La Puente City Council and later Mayor of the City. He helped rid the City of crime, graffiti, and drugs by organizing community groups throughout the neighborhood. With his leadership, he was able to seek funding for the City’s first senior citizens’ center, veterans’ monument, concert in the parks, and dial-a-ride programs.
In addition to his service as an educator and mayor, Ed Chavez has served the San Gabriel Valley while he was a Senior Field Representative for California State Assembly Member Sally Tanner and then District Coordinator for Assembly Member Martin Gallegos.
In 2000, Ed Chavez was elected to the California State Assembly for the 57 th District where he served the maximum terms allowed under California’s term limits. In the State Assembly, he held a number of leadership positions including Chairman of the Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee, Chairman of the Revenue and Taxation Committee, Chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Indian Nations and as Chairman and Founder of the San Gabriel Valley Legislative Caucus.
Elected in 2008 to the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District’s (USGVMWD) Board of Directors, Director Chavez was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. The USGVMWD is a wholesale water distributor and the largest water agency in the San Gabriel Valley that covers over 17 cities and approximately 1 million residents. For the last three years, he has served the water district as President of the Board of Directors. He has also served on numerous boards and committees, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, San Gabriel Valley Water Quality Authority, and the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster.
Ed Chavez continues to live in the same home that he grew up in with his wife, Renee. She is a healthcare provider who also served as a city council member and mayor of the City of La Puente. Their youngest son, Robert, is a graduate at the University of Colorado in the City of Boulder. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.
